Phinius Gage, Upstairs @ the Garage, London
Ah, so finally the Good Clean Fun Vs. Deck Cheese tour arrives in London. I’d seen the Winchester date the week before but with one less band so I thought I’d review this one. The turnout was low tonight but could be explained by the fact there was three other shows on in London as well as this; spoilt for choice eh? Anyways, intimate shows are always cool but although at some points you could count the amount of people watching with your fingers I managed to get stuck behind a tall person… oh the irony.
It appears STRIKE OF 59 have come under some abuse on the forums of this very website, on tonight’s performance it’s hard to see why as they’re a solid band full of charisma. Last time I saw them I wasn’t overly impressed and made a lazy comparison to NO COMPLY which I take back as they sound nothing like them. SO59 are worth more than being tarred as a NC tribute band. They flick between chilled out ska and thrash pop-punk like it’s second nature and front woman Katya performs with enough conviction to make them stand out. I believe the band are on the look out for a second guitarist which will no doubt beef up their sound. I think they have more than enough potential to start turning heads. (6.5)
GREBO seem to be blowing me away every time I see them play and although I feel they were better in Winchester the previous week they were still more than impressive tonight. There’s really no-one in the country who sounds like them at the moment; their technical and at times progressive skate punk has won me over as a fan. It’s incredible that a band with only three members can make so much noise and rock so hard on stage whilst remaining as one of the most consistently tight bands in the country. I can see this band becoming more and more popular; hopefully their constant touring will pay off. (8)
MY DAD JOE never fail to impress me, and if it’s a fast as fuck energetic live show you’re after, you won’t find many better. Tonight is no exception as there was so much axe-swinging going on it would put a lumberjack’s convention to shame, throw in a few timed jumps as well and you have a typical explosive MDJ performance. Their stand in bass player also did a good job in fitting in with the mayhem. Not having much of a crowd didn’t really affect them too much; it’s always good to see a band getting into their performance and they did deliver. (7.5)
Brighton’s very own skate punk heroes PHINIUS GAGE are also another band who give it their all no matter the occasion, and with it being the end of the night, a Wednesday night at that, there weren’t too many people left to witness some classic south coast Jagermeister fuelled punk rock. Those who left missed out. PG pack their sets full of skate punk anthems often loaded with choruses more lethal than the potent German drinks company sponsoring them; if the new material previewed at their recent shows is a good indication of what will appear on their next album I’ll be a happier than a pikey in a new caravan. (7.5)
It was an intimate gig which always makes things seem a little weird; sometimes cool but sometimes a little awkward. It was a Wednesday night I suppose so that could have explained why the crowd disappeared quicker than Graham Dott’s lead in the snooker last weekend. Overall it was quite a good night, the bands made up for the lack of crowd.
Mike
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